


Tic-Tac-Toe

by Sparetimer



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Fluff, Humor, It's almost gay chicken, M/M, Post-Fire Emblem Fates: Revelation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-14
Updated: 2017-10-14
Packaged: 2019-01-17 03:20:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12356379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sparetimer/pseuds/Sparetimer
Summary: Hoshidans gave hugs, Nohrians gave kisses.Two young princes experience cultural differences in the most awkward and clumsy of ways. And even then, they manage to turn it into a competition, somehow.





	Tic-Tac-Toe

**Author's Note:**

> Still organizing the next multi-chapter fic.
> 
> In the meantime, I will be posting mindless self-indulgent oneshots.

**X to Top Left**

If either of the two were to be asked “who started it?” they’d immediately point the finger at each other.

Takumi could pinpoint the exact moment. It was summer. Two families came together for Corrin’s coronation. It happened in the morning, under a sweltering sun. At that time, Takumi still had a mind to blame it all on the heat.

In Leo’s case, it had begun long before that. It was in the pats on his back, passing punches to his shoulder, and the erstwhile ruffle of his hair.

“The Hoshidan’s are simply more tactile people,” his brother would say.

Leo would take one look at the way their sisters interacted and disagree. Hoshidans were not necessarily tactile. _Takumi_ was tactile. It just so happened that his reason for putting his hands all over him were cultural. It was degrading. Careless brushes that the archer didn’t even give a second thought to would fluster him. Every time he found himself giving a sudden jolt as Takumi slung his arm around his neck to announce a need for attention, then shoot him that look with the quirked brow that pretended to be inquisitive to conceal its knowing and deliberate nature, Leo felt as if he suffered a loss in some game they were playing. 

The chance for retribution came after the war, days before Corrin became queen of Valla. The royal families met in the courtyard, and Camilla initiated the exchange of pleasantries by accosting Hinoka with a kiss on a cheek, as was Nohrian tradition. The Hoshidan princess turned a shade to match her hair, clearly new to the way the west said ‘hello’.

That was the spark in the lightbulb, and Leo had an idea.

Before he could think better of it, he approached the Hoshidan prince who was in the middle of his ‘how have you been, Prince Leo?’, placed both hands on his shoulders, leaned in, and pressed his lips to his left cheek.

In the back of his mind, he noted that Takumi’s face was rather supple, traces of baby fat not yet completely receded, and filed this information away, not quite sure why it caught his attention in the first place.

When he pulled back, he was met with a satisfyingly gobsmacked face, red to the ears, the tail end of a question dead in the throat.

“I’ve been well, thank you. It’s good to see you again, Prince Takumi,” Leo answered, smiled pleasantly as if nothing was out of place, and turned to give a far less brazen greeting to King Ryoma. 

Both families were eyeing him with bewilderment. After all, it was Camilla’s job to make people uncomfortable, not his. It didn’t matter though, not with Takumi still frozen in place, finally feeling the awkwardness that Leo had to deal with for so long.

This time, he had won.

-

**O to Center**

Takumi had turned to a book for an answer: a surprisingly thick tome on Nohrian etiquette, undusted from a corner of the Vallan castle’s dilapidated library.

Alright, so it was normal for friends in Nohr to kiss each other on the cheek in greeting. He and Leo were friends now, however tentatively, so there was nothing unusual with the action in itself. Still, Leo didn’t seem like the type of person to display affection, and positively shivered when his retainers’ faces got too close to his own. What would bring a guy like that to partake in such a custom? 

For what reason?

“Doing some reading, Prince Takumi?”

Speak of the devil. Takumi turned in his chair as Leo approached from down the aisle, arms laden with books of his own. Inwardly, Takumi cursed himself for not having the foresight to read back in his room. Of course, Leo would be here too. It was a library. He might as well have dove into a river to hide from the fish.

Once Leo was close enough to see the contents of Takumi’s book, that infuriatingly self-satisfied smirk made its appearance, front and center, “I didn’t know you were so bothered by my actions the other day.”

“No, it’s just weird coming from you,” he shrugged carelessly, putting on the usual false airs, “I can’t even touch you without you freaking out.”

A pleased smile crept onto his lips as Leo’s shoulders stiffened, the tinge of pink across his cheeks nicely complimenting the affronted look on his face.

“Pardon my assumption,” Leo’s attempt to school his expression back into one of complacence was only given away by the irritated twitch in his eye, “I thought some cultural exchange would be appropriate, given the new alliance between our countries. Forgive me if it makes you so uncomfortable. You simply had to tell me if you _couldn’t handle it_.”

Oh. So that was the reason. 

“I can handle it just fine,” Takumi scoffed as he stood from the table, slamming his book closed with a satisfying thud, eyes burning with the implication of a challenge, “I just hope _you_ can handle good old-fashioned Hoshidan hospitality.”

He gave Leo the usual pat on the shoulder, and to his credit, the other didn’t even flinch this time. That was fine, he had plenty more tricks up his sleeve. Instead of leaving his shoulder, Takumi reached his hand across, and brought his other hand up around his waist, jerking the Nohrian prince into an embrace with vice-like grip. Mercilessly, he pulled him in, until their chests were pressed tightly together and he could feel the other’s belt buckle dig into his stomach.

He wasn’t a stranger to touching Leo, but it was different having him in his arms. Like this, he could measure the dimensions of his body. His shoulders were wider than Takumi’s own, despairingly, but his waist was surprisingly slender without the padded girth of his armor. Sadly, he also stood several inches taller, placing Takumi’s nose at the base of his jaw, but his ears at the perfect height to catch the way his breath hitched. Takumi smirked maliciously into the crook of his neck, with the satisfaction of knowing Leo could probably feel it.

When he finally released the other royal, Leo’s eyes were blown wide, a pleasant rouge marring his features, and his body rigid. Leo had always looked statuesque, but now he might as well have turned into a statue altogether. 

“Why so stiff, buddy?” Takumi chirped, exaggeratedly good-natured, “It’s just a goodbye hug between friends!”

And without waiting for a response, he skipped his way out of the library, whistling a victorious tune.

-

**X to Middle Right**

On the eve of Corrin’s coronation, a ball was held in Valla’s halls. Leo watched with mild amusement as his younger sister, practically drowning in a frilly pink gown, dragged Princess Sakura, who was dressed in a far less ostentatious but no less intricate kimono, down the steps by the hand. 

“Come on! There’s nothing to be afraid of! Here, I’ll be your escort!” she chirped, offering a playful arm to her shy counterpart, who graciously took it. 

“Not fond of parties?” Leo asked

Sakura shook her head bashfully, “No. Takumi and I used to hide from them all the time.”

“So, Takumi doesn’t like parties either?” Leo scratched his chin thoughtfully. Given the other prince’s poor track record in social interaction, the information didn’t surprise him.

“Because there’s too many people,” the gruff voice drew his attention to the back, and Leo watched as Takumi descended reluctantly behind his sister. He hadn’t even noticed he was there at first, dressed in the formal kimono for men. The piece was even less decorative than his usual clothing, plain but sleek black, a colour he’d never seen on the usually obtrusive prince before. It brought out something different in him. Made his appearance more subdued, somehow. Quieter, more gallant. 

The questioning look Takumi shot him reminded Leo that it was improper to be analyzing a foreign prince’s figure for so long. He coaxed his tongue back into working order.

“What a shock, you actually know how to dress yourself.”

“That’s real hilarious, coming from you.”

Leo shrugged. He had to give him that one. He stood for about twenty minutes in front of the mirror that night just to make sure there was nothing out of place with his suit, and spent about twenty more trying to fix his tie before sucking it up and asking Xander to do it.

“So, will you be needing an escort too?” He teased, holding out a hand.

Takumi swatted it away as he passed, “As if. Don’t treat me like a woman.”

“I thought you’d be open to experiencing the Nohrian party custom,” Leo sighed with false disappointment, “but I suppose I expected too much of you.” 

Predictably, the Hoshidan Prince whipped back to him with a spirited turn of his heel.

“Actually, I changed my mind. Bring it,” this time it was Takumi who proffered his hand, having to raise it to nearly eye-level with his unfortunate vantage point from the lower steps.

Leo returned his glare with an amused smile, “Actually, you’re supposed to offer your right hand, not your left.”

Rolling his eyes, Takumi switched to the appendage on his other side, “I swear you Nohrians are so anal about these things. Are you happy now-“

Without warning, Leo took the hand with his own, lifting it slightly, then, he bent at the waist, and as he practiced with the noblewomen back home, pressed a chaste kiss to the knuckle.

“Between those of similar stations, a kiss on the hand is a sign of respect,” he explained, lifting his gaze slightly to drink in the sight of Takumi’s flabbergasted face, “though it can also be considered a gesture of submission,” he added, admiring how the additional information flooded said face with colour.

Without another word, he descended the steps aside the other prince, maneuvering the hand he held so that it nestled in the crook of his arm. He reveled in triumph, as Takumi allowed himself to be guided down the rest of the stairs, at a loss for words.

Elise was giggling as they passed, but he supposed he would allow it just this once.

-

**O to Bottom Right**

Their next meeting was Hoshidan soil, when the leaves began to turn. 

Takumi, still bitter that the scoreboard was now two to one, against his favor, stormed into Leo’s guest room, where he found the other prince predictably curled up by the edge of his futon, amongst piles of books pilfered from Shirasagi’s library.

“Enjoying the literature?” he scanned the volumes briefly. They were all works he’d read before, and he silently approved of Leo’s excellent taste.

“As a matter of fact, yes,” the blonde didn’t even pause from his reading as he answered, his excitement genuine. Takumi could appreciate the giddiness in his voice. It was rare to see Leo show such open interest in anything. When he acted so lively, Takumi almost wished he could cut the moment out from time, place it under lock and key, and revisit it whenever he pleased. 

He frowned. That was a strange thought. He’d been having many strange thoughts regarding his Nohrian counterpart as of late. The dangerous competition he embroiled himself in followed him even into his dreams. The usual nightmares became less common, and every once in a while, he’d find his nights filled by Leo’s haughty stare, the lilt in his laugh, the way his body fit between his arms, and worst of all, the feel of his lips: on his cheek, his hands, and elsewhere, in places they’d never touched.

He didn’t want to think about it. Instead, he reached down and wrapped a hand around Leo’s arm, hauling him up from the floor with ease. The blonde stumbled as he found his footing on the tatami, shooting Takumi an offended glare.

“Are you trying to rip my arm out?” He huffed, casting worried glances at the grip that Takumi retained around his limb.

“You can read later. It’s a nice day, so let’s go out,” Takumi allowed his grip to loosen, only to slide downwards, leaving a teasing trail of touch in its wake. With a smug sense of satisfaction, he realized that he could easily wrap his fingers around the entire circumference of Leo’s wrist.

“Pardon?” 

“You haven’t had time to tour the capital recreationally yet, have you? So let’s go. Think of it as part of our cultural exchange.”

Leo’s eyes glinted sharply then, and the next match of the little game they invented for themselves commenced.

“Very well,” he answered smoothly, “lead the way, Prince Takumi.”

With a cheeky cock of his head, Takumi entwined their fingers together. The way the other prince glanced down at their joined appendages, not without a hint of panic, didn’t escape his notice.

“What, no hug this time?” Leo’s words were sharp, but his voice wavered. 

“Holding hands is just hugging with your fingers,” Takumi shrugged, leaving no more room for discourse as he pulled his companion out of the room, as if the additional drag on his left arm weighed nothing at all.

It amused Takumi how easily he could manhandle Prince Leo. He knew from experience that the other was stronger than he looked through dozens of sparring sessions, not to mention the informal physical scuffles they found themselves in back when tempers were still high. The fact that he could shove him around with barely any resistance could only mean one thing. Leo was letting him. The thought put a smile on his face. He could count on one hand the number of others who were given such a privilege, none of which were outside the Nohrian royal family.

Takumi hauled Leo through the Hoshidan streets, sampling the different foods, and explaining the historical significance behind each landmark, building, and product. There was nobody else in the world but Leo who would listen to him blab on about the most mundane of topics and still give him his full attention, as if every last nugget of useless information that exited his mouth was the most interesting thing he’d ever heard. 

“Are you sure this is part of Hoshidan culture?” Eventually, Leo broke his silence and raised the still conjoined hands between them, “Because I’m starting to feel like you’re just making up cheap tactics now.”

“Of course it is,” Takumi playfully swung their arms together, gesturing around them with his free hand, “Plenty of other people are doing it.”

Leo’s eyes swept the streets, “Yes. The women.”

“As if you regularly escort other men to balls.”

There was a sigh in Leo’s gait as he resigned himself to his fate, “Fair enough.”

And as the Nohrian prince gently squeezed back, like his hand belonged in his all along, the last traces of discomfort evaporating from his shoulders, Takumi realized with a silent curse that he lost the round.

-

**X to Bottom Left**

The next one didn’t really count. 

Takumi didn’t sleep well. It was an open secret, and anybody who knew what the young prince was like knew better than to try to bring it up with him. Leo remembered lying awake during the war, doing his best to drown out the troubled groans from the adjacent tent. They’d always cease eventually, the silence followed by a rustle of sheets, a flap of the tent canvas, and footsteps in the grass, fading away in the direction of the training grounds.

Needless to say, he never once saw Takumi sleeping peacefully as he was now, illuminated under the afternoon sun, drooling onto an expensive looking tome now reduced to a mere mediocre pillow. The pages were beginning to get soggy. He deliberated over whether or not he should wake the prince to save the book, and came to a swift decision as to which was worth more.

Careful to keep silent, he slowly nudged his seat back and leaned over the slumbering prince, sliding the window’s shutters closed before the shifting sunlight could hit his eyes. Turning back to his book, he soon realized it was now too dim to read. That was the excuse he used as he allowed his attention to drift back to the person sitting to his left. His chin dropped into his palm, and his weight shifted onto his elbow as he sat sideways in his seat, facing Takumi. Leo simply sat and stared.

Watching Takumi was like reading a book. There were words in the curve of his nose, prose entangled in his silver bangs, a storyline waiting for him in the lines of his hands. They said that a picture was worth a thousand words, but each image of Takumi was like millions at once, and each word from his mouth a whole universe in its own.

How terribly cheesy. Even his own private thoughts were embarrassing him now. Leo wondered when he became such a romantic.

Did it happen when they held hands? Maybe earlier, when he dared to kiss his cheek? Perhaps it had been festering since the very first time the Hoshidan prince clapped a careless hand on his back. Or, most likely, it had always been there, a pique of interest from the moment they met, and Leo thought in such a quiet way that he barely even noticed it himself, that Prince Takumi was beautiful.

It was just the two of them in the library, the entire room empty save for the sound of Takumi’s soft breathing. Leo felt some pride in the fact that Takumi felt secure enough in his presence to sleep soundly, something he could hardly accomplish even when alone, and in a proper bed. In that silence, Leo allowed himself a tiny leniency.

This was no Nohrian custom, nor was it a part of any competition. It was a brief kiss to the top of his temple. And Leo would lock this one away, a secret all to himself.

-

**O to Middle Left**

Takumi had jumped at the chance to accompany Leo to negotiations with the Ice Tribe at first. They needed a neutral mediator, and he was the Nohrian prince’s first choice. The flattered, giddy feeling lasted about two days into the visit. He had never visited the edge of the mountain range in winter before, and now, trapped in a poorly insulated hut amongst villagers who wouldn’t know what cold felt like even if the blood froze in their veins, Takumi was beginning to have his regrets.

To make matters worse, Leo was lazing calmly on his bed, flitting through the pages of his book as if it wasn’t negative forty outside. Meanwhile, Takumi was wrapped under several layers of blankets, nuzzling close enough to the undersized fireplace that a careless move would singe his hair, and he was still losing feeling in his toes.

“How are you not cold?” He hissed, narrowing his eyes at the blonde who dared to seek him out for company then spend the entire time showing off his superior temperature tolerance.

“Unlike you, I’m used to it,” Leo shrugged, not without shooting him a taunting look, “It’s not like Nohr doesn’t get cold. And the stone walls of Krakenburg aren’t exactly conductive to heat. You Hoshidans have simply been spoiled silly by your temperate climate.”

“We have winter in Hoshido too!” Takumi argued, “It just doesn’t get cold enough to kill someone back home. And we have better ways of keeping warm than some tiny fire…”

He trailed off, then cocked his head at Leo, thinking deeply. The other prince peeked up from the top of his book, a look of concern settling across his brow.

“What are you plotting this time?”

Takumi returned his question with a telling smile, “I just remembered, back when we were younger, I used to cuddle with my siblings or retainers to keep warm.”

“…You want to cuddle,” Leo deadpanned. 

“It’s common in Hoshido,” Takumi hummed with false innocence, “but it’s probably outside a Nohrian’s comfort zone.”

“Oh please,” with a roll of his eyes, Leo let his book fall onto the covers and spread his arms open, waving the other prince over with one hand, “if that’s what it’ll take to warm you up, I’ll cuddle you like you’ve never been cuddled before.”

Takumi was almost impressed by how receptive he was being. Leo was getting used to their little game. He’d have to try a little harder if he wanted to win.

He joined his friend on the bed, and as nonchalantly as possible, seated himself right in Leo’s lap, nestling himself comfortably between his legs, and leaning his back into his chest. With an inward smirk, he relished the rapid rise and fall of his opponent’s ribcage, and the quickening breath on the back of his neck that accompanied it. Leo’s arms flailed in the air for a bit, as if not knowing where they belonged, and Takumi audaciously grabbed them by the wrist and placed them around his own waist. It was unfairly cozy. Leo was unfairly cozy. 

“Geez, have you never hugged a person before in your life?” He huffed anyway.

But for all his bravado, Takumi could feel his own blood beginning to rush to his face. Leo was almost feverishly warm, and Takumi almost had a mind to accuse the mage of using magic to raise his body temperature. Maybe Nohrians really _were_ better at preserving heat. 

“I-I can’t read like this,” Leo complained, thought it sounded more like an excuse than anything, “and the back of your ponytail is tickling my face.”

Takumi sighed and pulled the ribbons out of his hair, sending it cascading down his back. 

“Is that better?” He inquired with a backward glance to the blonde who was now gaping at him with uncharacteristically wide eyes. Takumi supposed that it was obviously his victory, and yet, it wasn’t enough. He wanted more. How far would Leo allow him to go for the sake of competition?

That question begged another. Was he touching Leo for the sake of competition, or was he using competition as an excuse to touch Leo?

Since last time, the strange thoughts and stranger dreams were only increasing in frequency. It was to the point where he would have an out of place daydream about how Leo’s lips would feel against his own, and wouldn’t even bat an eye in surprise because such thoughts came as easily and as frequently as breathing. Not even Takumi could deny how bad he had it now. It was probably self destructive of him to feed into his feelings like this, like injecting opium into his veins. It was both exhilarating to have Leo in the moment, and crushing to know that it was fleeting.

“I still can’t read,” Leo’s affronted voice interrupted his internal conflict. 

With an exaggerated sigh, Takumi slid downward until his head sank down to Leo’s stomach, while the satisfied bookworm picked up his discarded tome and continued to read. The feeling of arms around him left, as did most of the body heat. The room instantly felt cold again.

“I’m cold,” he complained accordingly.

“I think you’ve proven your point,” Leo muttered with his eyes focused on his book, still too flushed to look him in the eye, “Why don’t you return to the fireplace now?”

Takumi knew he should. There was no excuse to stay anymore, and if he pushed his luck, all of the feelings he kept hidden could come spilling out from between the lines. Going any further than this was dangerous. He should stop.

Instead, he rolled around and rested his head on Leo’s left thigh, then launched his arms around the other’s waist, pulling himself into the welcoming warmth of the other prince’s torso.

Leo jolted, “W-what are you doing, Takumi!?”

“You’re warmer than the fire,” Takumi mumbled into the cloth of his tunic, and clutched the fabric nervously.

It was a flimsy excuse. Leo would be able to tell instantly that he had ulterior motives. Any moment now, he was going to jump up and shove him off. This was a huge mistake. 

But that didn’t happen. Instead, Leo chuckled, “Suit yourself.”

So Takumi pulled himself in even closer, and did just that.

-

**X to Top Right**

The negotiations with the Ice Tribe eventually reached a peaceful conclusion, but carried on longer than expected. By the time they returned to Krakenburg, it was already the end of December. Leo tossed a sideways glance at his companion on the balcony. 

“Sorry you’re missing the New Year celebrations in Hoshido.”

“That’s alright. I should experience a Nohrian celebration once in a while, too.”

Takumi smiled back at him. They didn’t carry formal Hoshidan wear in the castle, so the foreign prince was dressed uncharacteristically in a fitted Nohrian dress suit, his traditional high pony tail replaced by a low one, tied midway. 

He looked absolutely breathtaking, and Leo had to physically bite his tongue to stop the thought from slipping out as words. Just in case, he busied his mouth with other words instead.

“For someone trying to experience a Nohrian celebration, you’ve been spending an awfully large amount of your time out on the balconies instead.”

“I can’t help it,” Takumi grumbled, “I still hate parties.”

“Honestly, you aren’t missing much. The only difference between a New Year’s party and every other party we host is how much we drink, and the countdown at midnight.”

“Countdown?” Takumi propped his chin in his palm as he tilted his head, blinking curiously. It was adorable.

“In Nohr, we count down the last ten seconds of the year.”

Right on cue, a faint chanting started from within the banquet hall, muffled by the balcony doors.

10…9…8…

“That’s pretty tame,” Takumi proclaimed with his usual haughty flair, and pointed a finger to the sky, “In Hoshido, we have a massive fireworks show.”

7…6…5…

“We have another tradition as well,” he mumbled his next words, still unsure if he wanted them to be heard.

4…3…2…

“What kind of tradition?” Takumi turned his head to ask, and was visibly startled by how close Leo’s face had drawn to his while he wasn’t paying attention. The other prince gazed at him with intense resolve, and paused for a moment, giving him time to pull away, just in case. 

But he didn’t.

1…

“This,” Leo breathed from centimeters away, before reducing those centimeters to nothing. 

In the background, he could vaguely recognize the wild cheering and shouts of “Happy New Year!” as the clock struck zero, but such distractions faded into a buzz as all his senses focused on the juncture where his lips met Takumi’s. He didn’t dare to press in or dawdle. He doubted he would survive to the next day if he tried, with the way his heart was already palpitating, on the brink of ceasing function completely. As quickly as he did it, Leo drew away, allowing the cold air to replace the fleeting warmth.

When he dared to open his eyes again, he was rewarded with Takumi’s luminous blush, visible even under the poor lighting of the outside lanterns. One of his hands had travelled unconsciously up to his lips, and Leo gave a silent sigh of relief that, at the very least, he wasn’t rubbing away his kiss with disgust.

“It is customary to kiss someone at the stroke of midnight,” Leo somehow found it in himself to act as if he wasn’t feeling half-delirious at the moment, “or else you’ll suffer a year of loneliness.”

“Oh. So it’s just a custom,” Takumi sighed, and the Nohrian prince found that he couldn’t tell if it was out of relief or disappointment. 

He didn’t have the guts to ask, nor the guts to correct him.

“Yes,” he answered instead, “it’s just a custom.”

-

**O to Top Middle**

“I’ve already been to the hot spring plenty of times during the war. This isn’t exactly a new cultural experience.”

Leo was grumbling behind him, but even so, he obediently followed his fellow prince into the changerooms.

“But you haven’t been to a Hoshidan _onsen_ ,” Takumi stated simply, while trying his best not to let his eyes wander as his fingers fumbled with the knots of his obi.

Though he’d run into Leo at the baths before, this time was different. This time they were going together, on purpose. This time he was significantly more conscious of how Leo’s skin was so pale below the neck since it never saw sunlight, or how when he bent over to remove his trousers, the little bumps in his spine showed through the skin of his back, or how Nohrian undergarments hugged the pelvic area-

With an increased urgency, Takumi quickly pulled off the rest of his clothes and hurried into the bathing area to douse himself with water. Freezing cold, preferably.

Leo followed a minute later, and raised a brow when he saw Takumi sitting on a stool next to a bucket of water instead of in the bath itself, a towel wrapped around his waist and hair tied into a messy bun.

“What are you doing?” 

“The first thing you need to know,” Takumi began, pointing at his drawers, “is that you don’t wear underwear into a Hoshidan hot spring. Towels only.”

Leo visibly jumped, eyes darting downward with newfound realization, “You mean you aren’t wearing anything under that!?”

“It’s how we do things in Hoshido,” the long haired prince smirked, even as he turned his head to hide his own embarrassment, “but if it’s too much for you...”

Leo sputtered, “Of course not. Wait here.”

He stalked back into the changing rooms and returned a few seconds later, this time with a newly wrapped towel around his waist. Takumi did his best to focus on anything else. 

“Secondly,” he began, handing Leo a bucket of water, “we wash ourselves before entering the baths.”

“Wait…” Leo squinted his eyes, “you mean to say that you bath…before taking a bath? That’s absurd.”

“No, it’s sanitary,” Takumi rolled his eyes, “and much better than cooking in a hot spring with everybody else’s dirt. Now soap up.”

Though not looking too fond at being bossed around, Leo acquiesced and took a seat on the stool next to him and began to lather, only to be jolted again as Takumi pulled up his own stool behind him instead.

“What is it this time?” He sneered, “Are we supposed to line up in a row or something?”

“Close,” Takumi grinned impishly back at him, and raised a wet cloth in his hand, “We’re supposed to wash each other’s backs.”

“You’re joking,” Leo’s eyes widened in horror as Takumi simply shook his head, “Oh gods, you’re not joking.”

“Giving up yet?” Inwardly, Takumi hoped that he would. He didn’t know if his heart could handle it if he really did have to wash his back.

“No,” unfortunately, Leo answered in negative immediately, and turned back around, giving full access to the broad expanse of his back, “go ahead.”

Well. He sure was fucked now.

Shakily, Takumi raised the towel and pressed it to Leo’s skin, trying desperately to pretend that he was just washing Ryoma or Hinata’s back instead. Except it didn’t work, because Leo’s skin was so much fairer than theirs. He wasn’t nearly as bulky as Ryoma, and didn’t carry half as many scars as Hinata. Furthermore, where his fingers accidentally met his skin, Takumi realized that the Nohrian Prince was ridiculously smooth. There wasn’t a single hair where there shouldn’t be. Not even one of those fine, blond Nohrian ones that were practically invisible. Yet, in direct contrast, was the sea of taught muscle that he could feel even through the towel. 

The sudden urge to hug him arose out of nowhere. It had become instinct by now. Whenever he saw Leo, all Takumi wanted to do was wrap his arms around him. Even now, while they were both slippery and practically naked. Especially now. But he knew there was a limit to what he could come up with reasonable excuses for, and circling his hands around his fellow prince’s chest while they were in the bath was far beyond that limit. So instead, he settled for washing his back.

He could feel himself deflate when he was done.

“Okay, I’m covered in soap,” Leo quipped nervously, purposely avoiding eye contact. For a moment, Takumi wondered if the Nohrian was just as flustered as he was. “Now what?”

“Now,” Takumi’s lips curled as he picked up the bucket at his feet and dumped its contents all over his compatriot’s head, eliciting a startled gasp, “we rinse.”

“Takumi!” Leo growled while raking through the wet bangs flopping in his eyes.

In return, Takumi laughed in his face.

-

**X to Bottom Middle**

Leo had to admit. He was stumped.

After the event at the onsen, he could not think of a single Nohrian tradition which could one up the sheer amount of embarrassment Takumi elicited from him that day. As if the feeling of the archer’s detailed scrubbing wasn’t enough, he had to return the favor and try to wash his immaculately sculpted back without openly drooling.

So instead, he had offered a day of relaxation to the Hoshidan prince. Cloud watching. His scientific explanation was that the high humidity that day would contribute to cloud formation, and they might be able to observe some interesting shapes. Of course, Takumi had laid down in the grass and fallen asleep about three minutes in, finally catching up on all the rest he never got at night. 

Propping himself up on his elbows, Leo ignored the clouds for the far more interesting sight of Takumi with his eyes closed, doing absolutely nothing. It reminded him of that day back in the library, and the irresistible urge to plant a kiss on the sleeping prince’s forehead hit him with full force.

As nonchalantly as possible, Leo glanced around the courtyard in all directions, checking for any uninvited guests. The perimeter sweep yielded an all clear result. Gulping down the saliva in his throat, he gingerly placed his hands on either side of Takumi’s head, and his palm promptly slipped in the grass, still slick with dew. From the humidity. He unceremoniously knocked his forehead against the other prince’s, waking him up in an instant.

“Ow!” Takumi cursed as he blinked himself awake, then stared in confusion as he found Leo leaning over him, “Um, what are you doing?”

“I…uh…” Leo explained eloquently.

“Is it Nohrian tradition to wake people up by bonking them on the head or something?”

“What? No! Of course not!” The blonde prince denied the affront to his country’s culture, then immediately regretted not rolling with the excuse handed to him on a silver platter.

“Then what are you doing?” Takumi asked again, this time, softer, complete with a soft blush and an imploring look in his eyes. To Leo, it looked like an invitation. 

He accepted.

He kissed him like a parched man drinking water for the very first time. Unlike during New Year’s, when he was still terrified and skirting around his feelings, he pushed forward, and Takumi pushed back, open mouthed, before wrapping his arms around the back of Leo’s neck and pulling him down even further, so that his weight leaned not on his palms but right on top of Takumi’s chest.

When they eventually pulled away to breathe, Leo had to snicker, “You really are a hugger, aren’t you?”

“Says the kissing machine,” Takumi rolled his eyes, then settled his pupils on Leo’s, face serious, “ _This_ isn’t a Nohrian custom, is it?”

“To be frank, I don’t think it’s been about the customs for a while now,” Leo admitted, “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do this.”

“I can't believe we’ve _both_ been using that dumb competition as an excuse to flirt with each other.”

“Well it worked, didn’t it?”

-

**Draw**

Eventually, the two princes made to leave the courtyard, and on the way, passed by their two younger sisters playing a game of tic-tac-toe with sticks and lines in the dirt.

“Hey Leo! Hi Takumi!” Elise chirped excitedly as she spotted them, “You’ll never guess what!”

“What?” Leo asked good-humoredly.

“Sakura and I just tied five times in a row! Isn’t that wild?”

“Actually,” her brother raised a patronizing finger, “if played perfectly, tic-tac-toe always ends in a tie. That’s why it’s just a children’s game.”

Elise pouted, “Meanie. Why do you have to be such a spoil sport?”

“Well, the way I see it,” Sakura soothed her friend with a hand on her arm, “this just means we can’t lose, right?”

“That’s right!” Elise giggled, “See, Leo? Unlike you, Sakura is nice! That’s why she’s my best friend, and your best friend is Mr. Grumpy Pants over there.”

From the end of her pointed finger, Takumi bristled, “Hey!”

Leo snorted, and pulled the Hoshidan prince away before he could start a shouting match with a little girl, but not before tossing back over his shoulder, “Well me and Mr. Grumpy Pants are going to play a real game. Like chess. You’d never catch the two of us playing tic-tac-toe.”


End file.
